Creativity + Passion = Success
BERJAYA UC supports the future generation of entrepreneurs
KUALA LUMPUR: BERJAYA University College (BERJAYA UC), Malaysia’s premier higher education provider has an innovative and creative community of people, who after pursuing their degrees, are passionate in growing professionally.
When asked what her views are towards students and staff engagement, Mae Ho, Executive Director of Berjaya Higher Education Sdn Bhd said, “We invest in our students and lecturers whose personal drive leads them towards a higher performance that outperform expectations. It has always been a transformational journey for them to go for competitions because they will be able gauge their knowledge, competencies and skills with peers from around the world. They come to BERJAYA UC as students or lecturers and emerge as award winning champions with entrepreneurial spirit.
There are three individuals that BUC are supporting this year.
Justin Ho Livern, BERJAYA UC – F&B Lecturer has over 10 years of overall experience in 5-star hotels, restaurants as well as hospitality academia in Malaysia. He currently holds a Master Degree in International Hospitality Management (Hons), a Certified Sommelier for Court of Master Sommelier (CMS), Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) as well as Level 3 and Certified Educator for Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET).
Justin also holds the title of Whisky Ambassador of Whisky Ambassador Program and is currently undertaking the Certified Sake Sommelier Program. He is the Honorary President of Sommelier Association of Malaysia (SOMLAY), recently appointed as the Ambassador for Helan Mountain’s East Foothill Wine Region during the 7th Ningxia International Wine Expo in Yinchuan.
Currently ranked No. 42 (2nd Time Malaysia is mentioned in the ranking) in the World Ranking for Best Sommelier of the World by Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI) in Antwerp, Belgium. Justin does not stop there. Always engaging in competitions, he was the 2nd runner-up in the recent 4th Best Sommelier of Asia-Oceania by Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI) in Kyoto, Japan. He is also the Champion for Malaysia Best Sommelier Championship 2018, 2nd Runner Up in Malaysia Best Sommelier Championship 2017, the Champion in Malaysia Best Sommelier Championship 2016 as well as Champion for Best Sommelier Championship in 2015 and also holds other industry awards. With his wealth of experience, Justin regularly speaks in wine pairing dinners of Luen Heng F&B Malaysia, Campo Viejo Wine Tasting Event with Pernod Ricard, Bodega Norton Wine Tasting Event and with Caldbecks Macgregor, Australia Wine Dinner with Monopole Wines, Burgundy Wine Dinner with AHAM Group, Weingut Prinz Von Hessen German Riesling Night with Straits Wines Co., Kanonkop South African Pinotage Wine Tasting Dinner.
On the entrepreneurial front, Justin is one of the Co-Founders of Private Room TTDI by The Private Group (TPG).
Shaun Liew was a Lecturer from the School of Tourism. His positive approach to his work and the ability to seek new skills and new developments in his area of specialisation has set him apart from his contemporaries. Shaun continuously travels in his quest for new knowledge and skills from around the world to hone his love for coffee. Recently, Shaun was the Champion of Malaysia Brewer’s Cup 2017 & 2019, 14th World Brewer’s Cup 2017 and 2nd Runner Up, Malaysia Barista Championship 2016. Shaun is an SCA Professional: Barista Skill.
“We want to give back to the younger generation…That’s what we want to do. We want to inspire the younger generation to really continue what we have done for the industry, not just in the university, but in the industry out there as well, so that it’s always continuous learning. Ultimately, in the next ten to fifteen years, you won’t see us doing this forever, so we want the younger generations to always succeed us.”
Shaun is the Co-Founder of Wizards at Tribeca, Yellow Brick Road and Common Craftsmen
Aaron Phua is an alumni of BERJAYA UC. He was a Diploma in Hotel Management student upon graduation, and opened the Thirty Seconds café. He was 2015 Coffee Fest World Latte Art Championship Chicago, USTop32, 2016 Coffee Fest World Latte Art Championship Tokyo, Japan Top32, 2017 Malaysia Barista Championship 3rd runner up, 2017 Coffee Fest World Latte Art Championship Tokyo, Japan Top16, 2018 Malaysia Barista Championship 2nd runner up and 2019 Malaysia Barista Championship Champion.
“Competition is one platform where you can actually share your personal thoughts about the industry, and to also inspire the younger generation to be someone greater and to take barista as a career.”
Both Aaron and Shaun will be representing Malaysia in Boston, Massachusetts, USA for the World Boston Coffee Championship (WCC) 2019, 11th to 14th of April 2019. Aaron Phua is currently Malaysia Barista Champion 2019 representing Malaysia in World Barista Championship 2019 and Shaun Liew is currently Malaysia Brewers Cup Champion 2019 representing Malaysia in the World Brewers Cup.
“These young entrepreneurs have leveraged on their knowledge and skills with impressive results.
They have transformed their knowledge into performance driven acts by participating in global competitions and through workshops that they conduct to share their knowledge and wealth of experience. True to our tagline of Inspiring Lives, Widening Horizons, BERJAYA UC will be supporting their travel to further hone their potential. This is the least we can do to empower our young entrepreneurs” Ho added.
L-R: Seated – Justin Ho Li Vern, Aaron Phua, Mae Ho, Shaun Liew
Witnessed by (standing): Ronald Willie Binati, Head of Programme (School of Hospitality); Aidil Ikram Bin Abdullah, F&B Trainer (School of Hospitality); Dewi Pratomo, Senior Lecturer (School of Hospitality)
